Kim Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance-Soudal) rode herself into the overall lead of the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after finishing third on stage 2, and by the next morning, she was fully decked out in yellow. From her helmet to her race suit, and most notably her brand-new yellow Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, everything was given some yellow flair.
SD Worx-Protime sprinter Lorena Wiebes underwent a similar transformation just a couple days later. After taking the points jersey away from Marianne Vos on stage 3, the Dutch powerhouse rolled up to the start line the following day clad from head to toe in green. Again, with a freshly painted race bike to match.
How do bike brands manage to design, paint, build and deliver these custom machines at breakneck speed, seemingly overnight, and sometimes across international borders?
With two riders now leading the classifications, we asked Specialized to find out.
Specialized is no stranger to rapid turnarounds on its custom painted bikes. It had two teams in the men’s Tour de France and four teams in the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift racing aboard the Specialized S‑Works Tarmac SL8. And with riders like Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, Lotte Kopecky, Demi Vollering, Lorena Wiebes and Anna van der Breggen among them, there was going to be a good chance that at least one of these athletes would be in a classification leader's jersey at some point.
"For key contenders, we’ll often paint jersey bikes in advance," shared Hannah Troop, Athlete Marketing Manager on our S-Racing team. "But when an unexpected win happens, we can turn it around overnight."
While the bikes are usually available right away, not all riders choose to ride them, Troop added.
"While we love the attention these bikes draw, they’re first and foremost a celebration of our riders’ accomplishments. Some choose to wait until after the end of the race to ride them out of superstition, and we always respect that," she explained. "Ultimately, it's their moment—we’re just here to help recognise it in the most meaningful way."
Specialized said that for some top riders chasing specific classifications, their teams may receive painted frames ahead of time, so they’re ready to go as soon as the rider accomplishes their goal and takes the lead.
But, the riders won’t see them until they actually earn that lead and the bike is build up, Troop said.
"Our S-Racing teams are at every race, supporting the teams as needed. Those [staff members] coordinate the delivery of bikes, whether that is driven overnight from the painter or already in their possession from a certain stage if things are looking good."
At the end of a stage race, if a rider successfully holds onto a classification lead, they may receive a fully painted commemorative frame. Back-up frames sometimes go key sponsors or even Specialized's own in-house museums.
Troop said that if the rider does not actually win the classification, the painted frames go back to the painter to be repainted and used in the future."
Some of you may remember the bike switcheroo debacle during the final stage of the 2022 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, when Annemiek van Vleuten, racing in yellow as the overall leader. switched bikes no fewer than five times in the opening half of the stage. While one of the changes was due to a mechanical, most were intentional. The Dutch star didn’t want to race aboard the custom-painted yellow Aeroad her sponsor Canyon had presented that morning. Why? The paint, as it turned out, made the bike ever so slightly heavier than her usual race bike.
Specialized shared that all paint adds weight and some colors like white more than others. So, the choice of bike is really up to the rider.
"Our bikes are so close to the UCI weight limit, it’s rarely an issue. But if a rider in the mountains wants to ride the 6.8kg limit – regardless of frame size or component spec - they have our lightest colourway at their disposal: Project Black," Troop said.
We'll have to wait and see what Le Court-Pienaar and Wiebes choose for their bike setups tomorrow as the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift heads into the French Alps, where it will stay until the race concludes on Sunday, August 3, atop Châtel les Portes du Soleil.
